Chapter 7
It was late when Ed finally stomped into his tent. He had maintained his infuriated demeanor all day, until he decided to finally drag his snarling ass out of sight.
Carol and her daughter had barely spoken all night, but he wasn't expecting them to be the life of the party after the long day they'd had.
Sophia had passed the time by flipping through a book while he and Carol stared into the flames, until he was sure he could feel it burning his eyes.
It wasn't until Carol was getting Sophia ready for bed, that Shane and Rick started to make their way over and he did his best to disregard them.
He didn't pay much attention to the approaching officers. He was more interested in Carol's jacket that he had found on the ground. He stood to his feet after picking it from the dirt and dusting it of for her. He had only just handed it over when she had noticed Shane and Rick entering their space.
His brow narrowed when he noticed the nervous expression covering her face. He reached out to her, giving her arm a light rub, drawing her attention back to him.
"It's alright. It is." he assured her quietly, before letting his hand drop back to his side. She didn't seem convinced, but she nodded and continued into the tent anyway.
He had told her he could help. That he would explain this to Rick and Shane as best he could. But no matter what Rick and Shane decided, he would help her keep the kid out of harms way.
He knew Carol still thought that she and Sophia were not his problem to deal with, even though he had signed up to help her with anything she needed. But finally she was starting to come around. She was starting to understand that allowing him to get involved didn't mean she wasn't a good parent and it didn't mean she was forcing him into something.
He wanted to give her anything she needed.
Right now, she needed someone to explain the reasons why she couldn't allow Ed to have contact with Sophia.
He was sure this was something she could explain much better then he could, but she couldn't bring herself to do it.
She was so sure that blame would be placed on her, no matter how much he told her it wouldn't be. So sure people would see her as the bad mother that she already thought she was. Mixed in with all of that, was the chance that no one would listen to her.
That's when he assured her he would make them listen. He didn't care if it took all night.
He was sure there were better ways of saying his piece and explaining what had him so worried. Shane and Rick had listened to him, occasionally exchanging glances and slight nods with each other. They hadn't disputed anything Carol had told him, no one had said she was a liar or a bad mother. They simply took the information in and sat on it for a few minutes.
In the end, Shane and Rick assured him that they wouldn't let anything happen to the kid. They were going to deal with Ed themselves, tell him how it had to be.
Ed wasn't going to be alone with Sophia and he could accept that or leave.
He had never asked what they were going to say to Ed, he never asked if they were going to bring up Carol's concerns.
Shane had argued, that the basic fact was, Sophia hadn't tried to see her father, she hadn't shown interest in seeing Ed at all. That was enough. No one was going to drag Sophia to Ed and make her talk to him. So Daryl assumed that's what they were going to lead with. He didn't care what they said, he just wanted it taken care of.
Once the custody meeting was over, and he had pleaded Carol's case, he chose himself a spot to start his night shift.
The space he had chosen for himself was near his truck, giving him a good view of Carol's tent when he looked over his shoulder and a clear view of the open space that surrounded the back edge of the camp.
Occasionally he would wander from his spot and have a closer look around, like Shane often did. Glen stayed in the camp grounds and patrolled closer to the tents. It wasn't ideal. They would have done better with a few dozen more people on the job, but right now all they could afford was three or four people on each shift.
He had been leaning into the side of his truck, having a smoke, when he heard something coming up behind him. He almost reached for his crossbow, until he realized who the light footsteps belonged to.
She made her way to his side, rolling on her heels and letting her body fall into the truck next to him. She was closer to him than she'd been in days and he watched as her hand reached out to his.
She glided her fingers over his, slowly taking the cigarette from him.
He didn't say anything, half wondering if she was going to chuck it, but instead she drew back on it a few times before offering it back in him.
He didn't ask, but he knew the question was in the expression he wore.
"I quit when I got pregnant"
He took back the smoke with a nod. He sucked back on it once more as she shifted a bit closer. He looked over his shoulder in the direction of their tent. Mostly seeing if anyone was around watching them. He knew he didn't have to worry about being caught with her, but the old habit forced him to check.
"She out for the count?"
She nodded and folded her arms over her stomach."Glenn's watching the tent, keeping an ear out for her"
He watched her as she answered, wondering why she wouldn't look at him.
"Well?" she asked keeping her eyes fixed down, quite obviously expecting bad news.
"It's taken care of, they said they would talk to him"
From the corner of his eye he noticed her nod in response, but that was it. He could tell she didn't want to talk about it anymore.
There was still Ed's reaction to worry about, even if Rick and Shane said they would handle it, the guy was unpredictable and all they could really do is wait and see.
There was so much to worry about and he found himself feeling like an asshole. Even with all the crap going on, all he could think about was the bare skin on her arm touching his. Wondering how she manage to still smell so damn good, wondering if the smell would only intensify if he could find a reason to get closer to her. With that thought he shook his head and took another draw of the cigarette, trying to make the thought pass.
"What did he say to you?" she asked, his head turning at the sound of her voice, only to find she still wasn't looking at him.
"Who? Rick?" he questioned, unsure what she was referring to.
He watched her head shake and arms fold over her middle.
"No. Ed. What did he say" She asked cautiously, as if she was expecting him to be angry.
He immediately began chewing at his lower lip, wondering how he should respond.
"I saw you talking to him after dinner" she added when he didn't answer, concern filling her voice.
He watched her closely for a moment and took in her stiff her posture and how nervous she was.
He knew then what he had to do. He needed to cut Ed out. What ever he had going on with Carol, Ed couldn't be in the middle of it.
If he told her what Ed said, he was letting Ed in and he may never be able to get the prick out.
"It doesn't matter" he said cutting her off before she could finish. Deciding right there and then, that it didn't matter. Whatever did, or didn't happen when she was with Ed was her business. If she wanted him to know something she could tell him herself.
Slowly she turned her whole body to face him, a shiver running over him as her warm skin left his.
"Did he say-"
"Don't worry about it. Ain't nothin he's got'ta say that I intend to listen too."
Something changed the mood in the air, but he wasn't sure what he had said to make her smile.
"I should get back"
He hummed in response as she pushed herself of the truck. He expected her to leave right then, but when she didn't go straight away, he looked over, just in time to watch as she moved herself in front of him, making him freeze in place.
Her eyes were locked with his as she lightly pressed her body to his and took his face in her cool hands. He couldn't help but shutter at the feel of it, dropping the lit cigarette to the ground.
He responded to the touch by slowly sliding his hands onto her hips.
He couldn't help but smile back at her before she leaned forward to graze his lips over hers, before pulling back slightly to examine his reaction.
Without a second passing he pressed his lips firmly back to hers, feeling them part and her tongue meet his.
He gently pulled her hips closer to his, waiting to see if she had any objections. When he saw the light curve on her lips he started moving his hands up under then hem of her shirt, until her could feel the skin on her waist under his fingers, encouraging her to keep going.
When her mouth found his again, there was no urgency in the kiss, it was nothing like the kiss at the quarry. Maybe it only felt that way because she was the one who initiated it, maybe it was because he knew without any doubt that she was kissing him back. But it felt real. It didn't feel like a mistake or something that needed to be questioned.
It was deeper than some stolen moment in the woods. It felt like they had all the time in the world. It felt like she could stand there kissing him forever, but she still she wanted to savor every moment of it. He lost himself in that thought.
It was never something he thought he was particularly good at, but he hadn't had many people who could offer judgement on his expertise.
He wasn't sure how long they had been standing there when she slowly started to pull her lips from his, releasing a deep breath as she did.
He loosened his grip on her hips and opened his eyes to see her face inches from his, smiling at him with her bottom lip caught between her teeth. He stood stunned as her hands slid down his neck onto his chest. He was breathing way to heavily and he was thankful that she wasn't doing much better.
"Try and get some sleep tonight" she said as she stepped back and his hands fell from her hips.
He nodded in response, not capable of much more.
He watched her walk away and started going through a mental check list of what just happened. Wondering what he had said that made her want to do that. Mainly so he could figure out a way to replicate the situation.
He woke the next morning, sure that he could still taste her on his lips, nothing on his mind except the thought of seeing her again. The thought of her had him putting his boots far to quickly and grabbing his crossbow without paying enough attention to where he was gripping it. The thought had him tripping over his own feet as he stumbled from his spot on the ground where he slept.
He could see her at the far side of the camp surrounded by piles of dirty clothes. She was alone, but doing the job of three people with ease.
The sight of the clean clothes made him realize he needed to take a bath or do something about the smell of dried blood and sweat that was coming off him in waves.
As he fumbled his way across the camp he noticed Ed, sitting outside of his tend shuffling through his bag. He tried to ignore Ed, even when he stopped what he was doing to watch him walk by.
It was obvious by the extra layer of asshole that Ed was wearing on his face, that Rick and Shane had already spoken to Ed. So he made sure he didn't look in Ed's direction, so that he wasn't responsible for setting Ed of.
He decided to make a stop on his way to greet Carol, when Rick caught his eye.
Rick was sitting in the RV with both Carl and Sophia looking at a book with the kids. Both Sophia and Carl scribbled down answers to the worksheets that Lori spent time making for them. This was usually Lori's job, she spent a lot of time working with the kids, but right now Rick had decided that he would take over. He didn't have to ask why Rick had taken over the job today. The expression he had seen on Ed was enough to answer the question for him.
Daryl made his way up the steps, stopping in the doorway and leaning into the frame.
"Good morning" Rick chimed, a little too cheery for his liking.
Sophia looked up with an almost blank expression on her face, but he had grown used to seeing that. He could never quite tell if the kid liked him at all, knowing only that she would follow him around like his shadow if she felt uncomfortable. But he wasn't stupid enough to think that meant she cared for him in the slightest. Basic fact was he and the kid had never spoken more than a few words to each other. And when he thought about it, he had said even fewer words to her.
He just didn't know what the hell he was supposed to talk to her about. And maybe that was the way she felt when she looked at him.
"Everything alright?" Daryl asked, watching as Sophia's sights dropped back down to the work she was doing. Rick nodded standing to his feet, taking a few steps to get closer.
"Seems to be" he added quietly, as if the kids couldn't hear everything.
"Well. What happened?" Daryl asked, watching as Rick looked over his shoulder in the direction of Ed's tent.
"Maybe, just stay out of his way for a while" he said with a shrug as he lowered his voice even more.
He nodded back to Rick, ready for the interaction to be over.
"Wasn't planning on anything else" he said quickly as he stepped back out of the RV to head over to Carol.
He was happy he had taken his time in walking over to her. He needed some time to sober up from his bumbling moron state. The last thing he wanted to do was act like an ass.
As he got closer her could see her examining a shirt closely, rubbing her finger over a spot on the fabric, so frustrated with the garment that her eyes actually rolled back.
He was so busy looking at her expression, that it took him a second to realize it was his shirt she was holding, no doubt trying to remove a mixture of blood and dirt that had now fused with the fabric.
Instantly he felt annoyed and a little sick to his stomach. All the thoughts of the night before disappeared as he got close enough so he could reach out and snatch the it from her hands.
"Don't" was all that came out when pulled the shirt from her grips.
She jumped at the sudden movement and he felt like an ass for scaring her, but at the same time he couldn't bare the sight of her fussing over his shit.
"What's wrong?" she asked with a hint of amusement in her voice.
He didn't know what to say to her, or how to explain the reaction, so he didn't try. Clutching the shirt in his hand, he stormed off into the woods.
He heard her call after him, but he didn't stop.
He didn't want to explain to her, how much it pissed him off when he used to see her running around with Ed's clothes, like she was his servant. He didn't want to explain that he was not looking to take the pricks place as master and commander. A part of him knew he was being irrational, but right now it was hard to reign it in.
He walked out far enough so that he couldn't see the camp, dropping his crossbow onto the ground before he started pulling his shirt over his head. He was out here, he might as well get changed. In the same moment that he realized the shirt he had taken from Carol was still filthy, he heard steps coming from behind him.
He spun around to see Carol cautiously looking him. Keeping her eyes locked on his, as though she was forcing herself to keep them from straying anywhere else.
Sooner or later she was going to see them, he just would have preferred later. He folded his arms around his stomach and found himself stepping back as she stepped forward. His gut flooding with embarrassment and shame while he wondered what she was thinking.
She smiled warmly at him, extending her arm out with a clean folded shirt in her hand. "That shirts dirty"
He stepped forward and gently took the shirt from her with nothing more than a nod.
"You should change in the tent. It's not safe doing it out here" she said casually, as she turned to leave.
He watched as she walked away. Thankful she didn't want to talk about it. Wondering why she didn't look surprised or shocked. He was fairly sure she had seen them before and he wasn't sure how he felt about that.
He put the clean shirt on and picked up his crossbow, thinking how he had only been awake for 20 minutes and managed to fuck the entire day up.
He planned to walk right passed her, looking in the other direction as he did. But when he got to the edge of tree line he saw her standing alone. He still wanted to touch her and be near her. That hadn't changed. He thought about the look in her eyes when he spun around to see her in the woods, there was no pity in her there, no disgust or even confusion.
He remembered that day he saw her wondering up the trail alone, marks on her arms and tears in her eyes. He didn't need to know what happened in detail, he just knew. Maybe it was the same for her, when she had seen the marks covering his body. She knew him, maybe she could see that part of him way before he revealed it.
He didn't want to be compared to Ed, not in any way shape or form, so he decided to do the one thing Ed wouldn't.
He walked over to her side, taking a pile of the dirty laundry in front of her and started folding. He could feel her eyes on him and he took a deep breath as he forced himself to talk.
"Sorry" was all he said, seeing nothing but the sweet smile he had been thinking about when he woke up.
She pressed her side into his, making him sway and smile back at her.
He found countless reasons to touch her and brush his body against hers, even a few ways to make her laugh, it was more than enough to make him decide to help her with the laundry more often.
He was having thoughts of tossing the clothes on to the ground, so he could take her, right then and there. He looked up to see who would be in the audience of the display when he noticed Ed smugly smirking at him.
He knew what Ed was thinking, he had already called him her bitch when he was washing a few plates, so it didn't take a genius to figure out what was going through his mind now. But fuck it, he didn't care. He found he couldn't think about anything but her and the things he wanted to do to her.
She had been watching Sophia and Carl closely while she mended clothing that had been ripped and torn.
The ball that the pair were enjoying was obviously meant for children much younger then they were. It was the kind of ball that was found in supermarkets for a few dollars, but it gave them something to do.
The clearing was where Carl and Sophia spent a lot of their time playing, it was the only place they were allowed to venture to alone, because they were still in plain sight of everyone and it was one of the safer spots in the camp.
For most of the afternoon they had been kicking the ball to each other and she knew Sophia was enjoying much more then anyone would expect.
Sophia had never had many friends and she had never been able to spend her time playing the simple games that most children took for granted.
Her heart sunk for the girl when Carl was called away from the game by Lori and Rick, who planned to take Carl to the stream to clean up and fetch some water.
Sophia smiled widely at Carl as he left, but once the boy met up with his father she watched as Sophia's smile faded away.
Sophia looked down at the ball in her hands and pressed her fingers into the red rubber and for a few minutes she looked rather lost.
She was to busy with the clothes and soon she would be busy preparing dinner. She didn't have much to offer her daughter that would be entertaining, but she thought at the very least she could call Sophia over and talk to her while she worked.
Before her lips could even part to call out to her, Daryl was lazily making his way over to Sophia.
It was no secret to anyone that Daryl didn't really know what to do with Sophia. Neither he or Sophia were known for their conversational skills and for the most part she could tell that Sophia made him nervous.
He drew back on the cigarette and tucked his free hand into his pocket, as he took Carl's place across from Sophia.
She didn't see any words exchanged between the two and she doubted that Daryl was eager to kick a ball back and forth, but still he was there.
He nodded his head to the side, giving Sophia the only indication she was going to receive from him, that he was ready. There was a slight curve on Sophia's lips and she dropped the ball back to the ground and kicked it over to Daryl.
It was an odd sight to see.
It was as if neither wanted the other to know that they were enjoying the quiet back and forth.
Occasionally Sophia would kick the ball to hard. It would fly passed Daryl and he would smirk at her and Sophia would return it.
There were times when Sophia didn't kick the ball hard enough and Daryl would have to walk forward to meet it. But Daryl drew no attention to something that Sophia obviously considered a failure.
She couldn't help but laugh to herself at the sight of Daryl. The man who people had actively avoided because they feared for their safety. People who were waiting for him to have some kind of violent episode, because he was so unpredictable.
Yes, the possible danger to the group, was playing kick ball with her daughter. No one had asked Daryl to do it, he had no reason other then the fact that he had wanted Sophia to continue enjoying what was left of her afternoon.
He'd been on watch in his usual spot for a few hours when he heard her approaching.
Doing the laundry seemed to have worked as some messed up four-play, because as soon as he saw her coming he chucked the cigarette to the ground and headed at her.
There were no pleasantries, no conversation, no confusion about why she was there and what she wanted.
There was only a harsh collision of their bodies, mouths, and hands.
He didn't know what came over him, he just knew he had wanted her all day and now he finally had his hands on her.
A growl erupted in his chest and he pulled away for a second to grab hold of her thighs a lift her up, moving her back until she was wedged between him and his truck.
Her legs were wrapped tightly around his waist, her fingers twisted tightly in his hair and her tongue ran over his.
He was sure they looked like a pair of horny teenagers going at it, but he also knew she only had a few minutes before she would have to get back to the camp. He wanted to make the most of it, by getting as much of her as he could.